19 November 2007

Conceding defeat

Last August, D and I converted one of our spare bedrooms into a guest room. We agreed that I would destash to the point that all the wool would fit into the larger spare room closet and under the bed in the guest room. Fourteen months later, after D has been "patience personified" (his words, not mine), there are still 6 bins of yarn, cross stitch stitch supplies, and unfinished sewing projects in the front hall, and fiber in the guest room closet. I sold some stuff—probably about 2 or 3 bins—and I have a few more batches to post to Destash or eBay or Ravelry. I also have a huge box of oddballs to send to a worthy cause. I just cannot find a good cause; all the wool accepting worthy causes are not returning my emails offering a big box of yarn.

I really thought I could part with more, but I truly love everything left in my stash. Conceding defeat will give me back some knitting time. For the past several months, I have avoided knitting because I thought I should be destashing. Instead of doing either of those things, I found other things to do (like reading Ravelry forums and blogs).

As part of the process, I frogged a bunch of abandoned projects, but there are still a few lurking. I doubt I will ever finish them, but I cannot bring myself to frog them or toss them, either. Yes, I have a few issues with letting go.

This weekend, D and I will figure out how to dispose of our spare bed and rearrange the furniture one more time. When that is finished, I will have a studio again with permanently set up sewing machines and drum carder. And D will be able to close the door on my mess. Sounds like a recipe for renewed marital harmony to me.